The Saddledome is surrounded by water in downtown Calgary, Alta., Sunday, June 23, 2013. Calgary Stampede organizers say some signature events this year have been cancelled because flood repairs to the Saddledome cannot be completed in time.JONATHAN HAYWARD
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

The inside of the Calgary Saddledome is shown in this photo provided by the NHL’s Calgary Flames last week. The team said flood waters reached as high as the eighth row of seating in the stadium.HO
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

CALGARY — The task of cleaning up the Scotiabank Saddledome from the devastating flood was so monumental it forced organizers to cancel four high-profile concerts scheduled for this year’s Stampede.

On Tuesday afternoon, it was announced that the following concerts would not go ahead this year: Carly Rae Jepsen (Wednesday July 10), Tim McGraw (Thursday July 11), Dixie Chicks (Friday July 12) and KISS (Saturday July 13).

“We were trying very hard ... At the end of the day we have 2,500 fewer seats. We have no opportunity to provide food of any kind. We have no opportunity to even provide a beverage service of any consequence, of any kind,” said Calgary Flames’ president Ken King. “Electrical, potable water, sanitation and at the end of the day personal safety would be compromised if we made any further attempt even on a restricted basis to afford the building for the use of these concerts.”

He said the July 17 Bruno Mars concert, after the Stampede, will also be rescheduled.

King said the current status of the Saddledome would be what he imagines it would have looked like in 1982 when they were partially done construction.

“It is down to the cinder block concrete in almost all areas,” he said. “Pressure washing is taking place. The seats have been removed. And it is bare bones ... Basically we’re starting from scratch on all sorts of interior issues and on all mechanical issues, ice plant, etc. We’re looking for backup equipment in order to put us in a position to start our season which is scheduled for October 6.”

Calgary Stampede chief executive Vern Kimball said the four concerts couldn’t proceed due to the damages the facility suffered during the recent flooding.

“We understand that this news is disappointing and we’re disappointed too as we wanted to present our guests and our fans with an awesome concert experience,” said Kimball. “It became evident late (Monday) to the Stampede and the Flames that the services necessary for an acceptable concert experience just weren’t available given the current status and limitations of the building.

“Given the size of the four shows, and that they’re all intended for indoor setup with tailored effects and lighting, there was no feasible alternative to host any one of these shows at another Calgary venue during Stampede.”

Kimball said ticket holders will receive admission to Stampede on the day of their concerts by showing their tickets and “we’re also hoping to reschedule these shows at later date and we will know more about rescheduling right after Stampede.”

Prior to the concert announcement, Calgary Stampede President Bob Thompson said that the parade will go as originally planned on Friday following the same start, finish and route from previous years. An addition to the Stampede parade will be the presence of first responders to the flood. Thompson, standing in the middle of the midway of Stampede Park, said it will be business as usual during the 10-day show with some adjustments. The traditional Sneak-a-Peek is scheduled to run as planned on Thursday night.

Warren Connell, vice-president of park development for the Stampede, said the infield and track for the rodeo and chuckwagon races had to be completely rebuilt. Flood waters breached the race track. Millions of gallons had to be pumped out of the area.

“At any given point we had 14 feet of still water in the barn and eight to 12 feet in the infield,” said Connell.

“We are very lucky. If we had not had our new tunnel constructed, we probably would still be pumping water today. But that tunnel acted as a sieve for the entire infield and track and we actually managed to get it drained in two days.”

He said 30,000 cubic yards of material was taken out of the infield — right down to the base — and was completely replaced.

“I actually believe this is the best track the Stampede’s ever had,” said Connell.

He said 800 to 900 people worked on the site with 220 dump trucks on a 24-hour basis, five loaders and a host of different road building equipment.

Paul Rosenberg, vice-president of programming for the Calgary Stampede, said that from a rodeo production point of view “it’s systems go.”

But that’s not the case for some other areas.

Activities in the bottom floor of the Big Four Building, which primarily houses the food court, have been cancelled. Due to the Saddledome situation, events scheduled there during the first five days of the Stampede are being adjusted with most moving to other venues. The Cowboy Up Challenge is moving to the Big Top, and most of the Heavy Horse shows will also be moving to the Big Top. The Team Cattle Penning Competition will be moved to Okotoks. The Marching Showband competition will be moved with details to be announced. The Vintage Tractor Pull is being re-formatted into a Show and Shine. The Cutting Horse Competition on July 8 has been cancelled.

Greg Korek, vice-president of client relations for the North American Midway Exhibition, said the midway will be operational for the Stampede as the organization had a good three days to move onto the grounds.

King said the Flames have a contingency plan in place for all of the NHL team’s training camp and pre-season schedule should the Dome not be ready by then.

“We’re not prepared to give up on the season or the start of the exhibition season until it would appear otherwise,” he said. “We’re not changing our NHL schedule. We had that opportunity and we’re going to go ahead and try to open.”

When asked why the organization is going ahead with the cleanup of the Dome instead of focusing on a new building, King replied: “It takes 2 1/2 to three years to build a new building. We need to put this building into service. There’s lots of things, not the least of which is the Stampede events now and in the future and everything else that needs to take place. This is the largest community gathering place in southern Alberta — 1.8 million people go through there and we have to have a place for them to go.”

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